God's Plan Revisited

Tuesday, August 9th, 2010

Today's Passage: Romans 6: 1-14
Memory Verse: Rom. 12-14

For quite some time now, I've been pondering upon the mindset of some who have embraced the gospel of inclusion.  At its foundation, those who are for it believe God is too loving to turn away any of His children.  So, no matter what their lifestyles are, people are invited to "come in" and participate in a walk with Christ.  After all, God loved the world so much that He sacrificed His Son in order for the world to be saved.  Why would He go to all that trouble only for some to be allowed in? Surely the God we serve could not be so cruel as to offer salvation from a dying world only to deny it to the majority of the world He came to save, right?

But then I take a moment to go back to my Bible, and I see that yes, God loves us all.  He would never have sacrificed His only Son if there were any other way He could have saved us from the wrath that's reserved for the devil and his angels.  But that's where the comparison ends.  What exactly have we been saved FOR?  Did Christ endure the battering of His body and loss of every ounce of His blood just so we can continue to live the same way we used to before we became saved?

Today's passage gives us the focus needed to walk in newness in Christ.  We had no way of getting out of the penalty of sin that we walked in before Christ.  This is why He, the God- man, went and paid that penalty for us (Rom. 5:6-8).  But once we accepted the terms of that payment -- which includes the clause that we've been bought with a price -- then we do our part by putting all of our new- found energy into living life GOD's way, not ours.  I think this is the part people struggle with the most: after salvation, there has to be a change.

Friends and Lifers, the Lord will not have us to be deceived.  Salvation IS free, but after that, we also must pay a price.  That means, every day that we live, we get to show our Lord and Savior that the price He paid was not in vain.  It's not a burden heavier than the one we had imposed on us by the enemy of our souls.  Let's never forget we've been saved FROM a life of heartache and death, TO a life of eternity with Christ.  This is the true meaning of God's love.

Prayer:  Father, thank You for giving me the true revelation of what You accomplished at Calvary.  I now commit more than ever before to let go of the struggles of living holy before You.  When I realize that the power to overcome the enemy lives within me, I love You even more.  I remain totally devoted to serving You always.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.